Wednesday :: October 10 :: 1 Peter 3

I had the great priviledge of reading our text today with our staff. I'll enjoy hearing the "hairy chins" take on the "weaker partner" comment.

The first major section of chapter 3 seems to fly in the face of modern thinking behind the roles of women - specifically wives. But culturally speaking, this is great news for women (back in the day). Women were seen (and today are still the same) as mere objects - possessions. But Peter is saying they have worth and value that comes not from their appearance or the outside but from much deeper - they have a soul! At the time of this writing, women were not treated like equally with men and many believed they were not worthy of the Kingdom of God. Peter is saying you are worth it! You have value! Stand tall and allow your inner beauty to shine! I think this is a great message for our young women today ... for my 6 year old daughter ... to cultivate a spirit within them that they are confident in who they are and not what they look like as much.

There is some great content in chapter 3 but then I get to this: "He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the art was being built." (19-20) Huh? You can image I pulled out the smart people book to help me understand this one and ... it didn't help much. Some things have come to mind over this scripture:
1) Peter, the author of this letter, was with Christ for some extended time after his resurrection. This would lead me to believe that Jesus spoke about many more things but very few of these have been recorded. Is it possible that Jesus shared with Peter about what he did after his death (in the spirit) and before His resurrection took place? Did Jesus visit a "holding sell" for those who did not repent during Noah's day and preach about their need for salvation? Did he offer them a second chance in this moment?
2) Peter was the disciple who always got into trouble for talking ... I have always identified with that. Could it be that Peter is talking symbolically or just rambling on? If that were true, then we'd question the "holiness of scriptures" that feature authors who are not completely inspired by God to write these words ... and I don't want that debate!